Hall of Fame not Texas-bound, leaders say

Football foundation's move there has spurred speculation hall will follow.

Football foundation's move there has spurred speculation hall will follow.

November 17, 2006|JAMIE LOO Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- The College Football Hall of Fame is staying in South Bend, despite rumors that it would follow the National Football Foundation's move to Texas, according to local and foundation officials. The foundation announced earlier this week that it will relocate its corporate headquarters from Morristown, N.J., to Las Colinas, Texas, which is located near Dallas. "The (NFF) move has nothing to do with the College Football Hall of Fame," National Football Foundation President Steve Hatchell said. Hatchell said his vision along with foundation board chairman Ron Johnson is to make the foundation "coast to coast and border to border." Moving the foundation puts the organization in the middle of the country, allowing the foundation to grow and strengthen local chapters nationwide. The hall has been a viable operation in South Bend, he said. "We've enjoyed the relationship (with South Bend) and we've been trying to do a lot more out there (Hall of Fame)," Hatchell said. "We're trying to open the doors on a lot of new things there." Hatchell said Rick Walls, executive director at the hall, took over only a year and a half ago and that the foundation is interested in continuing to add to the hall. South Bend Mayor Stephen Luecke echoed Hatchell and said the foundation has been a good partner. He said the hall recently signed another five-year interim agreement with the city to stay in town. But some members of the South Bend Common Council aren't so sure. Council Member Derek Dieter, D-1st, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Tuesday that the hall "would be huge in Texas." Dieter also was quoted as saying: "If I was in charge of it, that's where I'd move it. It's on the way to Texas in two to three years. There's no doubt in my mind." In an interview Thursday with The Tribune, Dieter said he was misquoted by the Star-Telegram. Dieter said "it just seems odd" that the foundation chose to move to a state that previously attempted to recruit and move the hall there. In 2005, Arlington, Texas, Mayor Robert Cluck said he wanted the hall to move to Arlington. Arlington is the home of the future Dallas Cowboys Stadium, which is scheduled to open in 2009. "I'd like to see it stay here if the NFF would step up to the plate to pay for operating costs," Dieter said. Money generated by the hotel-motel tax and professional sports development fund could go to other entities if the foundation would foot some of the bill for operating the hall, he said. Dieter said he supports the hall staying in South Bend, and he said Walls, former director Bernie Kish and city administration have worked hard to keep it here. But it's the foundation that hasn't contributed and with which he takes issue, he said. "I think they (the mayor and city administration) have bent over backwards to keep it here. I just think the NFF really used us," Dieter said. Wendell Barnhouse, a reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, said Dieter contacted the newspaper Tuesday and spoke with him. "He was not misquoted," Barnhouse said. "I have what he told me on tape and I stand by what I wrote." "It was spun a little different than the conversation tone," Dieter said in response. Dieter said he has no problem with what Barnhouse wrote and that "anything I said is fine." Although there may have been "a lot of negatives on my part," Dieter said, "the city has been trying to do positive things with the NFF." Luecke stressed that local taxpayers are not paying for operations at the hall. The 6 percent hotel-motel tax is charged to people who stay in local hotels. "The hotel-motel tax and professional sports development dollars that we use to support operations at the hall are not a drain on local taxpayers," he said. "They don't hit anyone locally in the pocket and that's part of the reason we went to the hotel-motel tax and the sports development funds to help support operations at the hall." The mayor said the hall is an asset to the downtown area, drawing in new investment, such as the Gameday condominiums, and providing national exposure to the city when ESPN broadcasts from the hall. He said the hall is a boost to Century Center's ability to attract conventions to the city and gives convention-goers a place to visit in their free time. The Common Council has been meeting with the hall to discuss funding from the professional sports development fund. The council chose to hold off on approving hall funding in the city's 2007 budget to have the discussions. Council Member Charlotte Pfeifer, D-2nd, chairwoman of the council's Personnel and Finance Committee, has said in recent committee meetings that hall funding has been a contentious issue each year. Pfeifer said the intent of the meetings is to bring everyone together to talk about the hall and clear the air on funding issues, so this doesn't turn into a battle every year at budget time. The council has invited Hatchell to come to South Bend for one of these meetings. "We told them (council) we'd be glad to do it," he said. "We're always open to conversation." Staff writer Jamie Loo: jloo@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6337